Absorbent products of the aforementioned type are well known.
Many absorbent products are provided with means for ensuring a good fit and tight contact with the wearer's skin so as to prevent leakage. An example of such a product is for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,674,214, which discloses a sanitary napkin in which a separation member is provided which causes the liquid permeable topsheet to maintain contact with the wearer's skin when forces are exerted by the wearer's thighs tending to separate the napkin surface away from the wearer during movement. Due to this arrangement, only the edge portions of the core can therefore be attached to the topsheet.
One problem existing with absorbent products of this type, and in general, is that the wearer may suffer from damage in the form of sore patches (such as so-called “nappy-rash”) or chafing on the skin as a result of the frictional movement of a wearer-facing surface of the absorbent product against the wearer's skin. This skin damage may present itself in several forms, at several different locations.
Bed sores are a typical result of the use of absorbent products, and are particularly prevalent in bedridden patients who must lie for long periods on such absorbent products.
Another area where damage to the skin can occur is with new born babies, where the remainder of the umbilical cord remains attached for up to a few weeks after birth until the navel has fully healed. The umbilical cord is particularly sensitive at the point where the cord remainder is attached to the body. When the baby wears a diaper, the cord remainder tends to be rubbed by the wearer-facing surface of the diaper which can cause skin damage, or the cord remainder can become frictionally engaged with the wearer-facing surface and is then dragged with this surface when the baby moves and/or when the baby is handled by an attendant (e.g. the parents). This can cause discomfort and again can lead to skin damage. Even when the baby has no clothing over this area, the rolling and turning movements of the baby against sheets or covers can cause the same effect.
Other areas of absorbent products being in frictional contact with the skin can cause similar problems during relative movement between the skin and the wearer-facing surface of the absorbent product.
One solution to the problem of bed sores has been given in for example WO-A-01/24753. This discloses making a hole through the layers of the absorbent product at the location where the bed sore or other sensitive area of the skin is located. However, this leads for example to loss of absorbent material for absorbing exudate and also to an increased risk of leakage of exudate either through the hole or as a result of the reduced amount of absorbent material remaining. Furthermore, there is no real protection against layers of clothing or bed sheets for example touching the sore skin areas through the hole.
Likewise, with umbilical cord remainders, a similar solution has been proposed by cutting away a section of the diaper (i.e. in a central waist section overlying the cord remainder) to form an opening so that the umbilical cord no longer contacts the wearer-facing surface of the diaper. However, when the baby has an article of clothing put over the diaper, the cord remainder can then become entangled in the clothing and similar damage can result. Also, the loss of absorbent material in that area is undesirable. The edge of the opening also produces additional problems in that it can be sharp and/or hard, and/or the umbilical cord remainder may become caught in the edge.
A further document dealing with avoiding sore areas of skin developing due to frictional contact with diapers is U.S. Pat. No. 5,938,649. This document discloses the use of a friction-reducing substance, such as aloe vera, in the form of a coating layer applied to the portion of the absorbent product which would otherwise directly contact the skin. A further document with such friction-reducing coating is EP-A-0 692 263, whereby a high molecular weight solid waxy substance is used.